In the related art, as one of printing methods, a transfer inkjet printing method is known. In this transfer inkjet printing method, ink including toner particles is discharged onto the surface of an intermediate transfer body such as a transfer belt or a transfer roller using an inkjet method, to form an intermediate image thereon, and the intermediate image is transferred onto the surface of a recording medium such as paper or various sheets, to form a final image on the recording medium. As a recording medium, a paperboard, carton paper, a resin sheet, cloth or the like is used.
As a device (transfer inkjet printer device) to carry out such a transfer inkjet printing method, a device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H5-261903, or Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-228222, is already proposed. Both transfer inkjet printer devices disclosed in these Patent Documents have a configuration in which an ink layer of an intermediate image formed on the surface of an intermediate transfer body such as a transfer belt or a transfer roller using an inkjet head is pressed onto the surface of a recording medium such as paper or various sheets using mechanical pressure, thereby transferring the intermediate image onto the surface of the recording medium.
In a transfer inkjet printer device in the related art, depending on types of recording medium or on surface properties thereof, it may become difficult to form a high-quality print image on the surface of the recording medium. With respect to a print image, for example, it is desired that the print image is accurate and clear, the unevenness of color or shade is small, and the image reproducibility is excellent. In addition, it is desired that the adhesion of an ink layer to the surface of a recording medium is high, and the durability of the ink layer is excellent. However, in a transfer inkjet printer device in the related art, depending on types of recording medium or on surface properties thereof, it may become difficult to form a high-quality print image on the surface of the recording medium, wherein the print image sufficiently fulfills these requirements. For example, in a case where a recording medium having low wettability to inkjet ink, a fluffy recording medium having low surface smoothness (a recording medium having a rough surface) or the like is used, it may not be able to form a high-quality print image which fulfills all the above requirements.
The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances and aims to provide a transfer inkjet printer device capable of reliably and stably forming a print image on a recording medium without reference to types of recording medium or to surface properties thereof, wherein the print image is accurate and clear, the unevenness of color or shade is small, the image reproducibility is excellent, the adhesion of an ink layer to the surface of the recording medium is high, and the durability of the ink layer is excellent.